Fillmore planning panel backs ordinance to allow delivery-only medical cannabis businesses in Business Park zone

The Fillmore Planning Commission on March 5, 2025 opened a public hearing and voted to recommend that the City Council adopt a zoning ordinance amendment and related municipal code changes to allow non-storefront medical cannabis retail and delivery operations in the city’s Business Park (BP) zone.

City planner Brian McCarthy told the commission the change is necessary because Senate Bill 1186 made it unlawful for cities to outright ban medical cannabis sales or deliveries, and the proposed ordinance confines new medical-cannabis delivery and non-storefront retail to Fillmore’s BP zone while prohibiting on-site customer sales. “Senate Bill 1186…made it so cities cannot prohibit sales of medical marijuana or deliveries of medical marijuana,” McCarthy said, and staff drafted code text to allow delivery-only operations in enclosed, secure buildings and to require an operations plan and conditional-use permit for each applicant.

The planning staff framed the proposal as a narrowly tailored response to state law: the draft code adds definitions, design and operational standards, a conditional-use permit requirement, and a 600-foot separation standard from public parks,…